'What can I bring?' Try hors d'oeuvres for 500

For transporting food to holiday parties, learn from the masters of the movable feast

"Keep it simple" is the main tip. Veterans at toting food around say there's no point bringing a dish that needs serious last-minute cooking.

Photograph by: Rod MacIvor/Ottawa Citizen/CNS
, The Gazette

Heading for a party carrying along some of the food is not unusual these days. More and more hosts are happy to accept the offer, "Can I bring something?" Some have given cooperative parties so often, they have learned to make suggestions to guests so their event goes smoothly.

"Keep it simple" is the main tip. Veterans at toting food around say there's no point bringing a dish that needs serious last-minute cooking. If it's a big party, even a spacious kitchen will be crowded; or you could find yourself working in a kitchenette. Hors d'oeuvres that need broiling are another bad idea unless the host has two ovens. And food that must be kept chilled until it's served can be a problem unless you're sure of adequate refrigerator or freezer space.

Such recommendations are echoed by the professionals in the transporting of party food - chefs who cater events outside their restaurants or truck their cooking to fundraisers.

"I call it camping," says Daren Bergeron, chef at Decca77, who was one of 10 chefs to feed 560 people for a fundraiser at Marché Bonsecours last week. "I treat planning for that kind of event the same way as if I were going camping."

That means cutting up ingredients in his own kitchen on Drummond St., pre-cooking the foods that need it, mixing up sauces or dressings, and taking everything to the party in separate containers for last-minute assembly.

Bergeron, who served a colourful appetizer of wild Pacific salmon with a sea-cucumber mousse and mussel vinaigrette, demonstrated that food to go needs careful planning. Preparing for the fundraiser, which was called Gold Medal Plates and combined a culinary contest and walk-about dinner in support of Canada's Olympic athletes, the chef had "flash-poached" his fish in advance, whipped up everything else a few hours ahead, and brought two assistant chefs to help him serve.

Bergeron advises seasoning your food and assembling it at the party. And go easy on fancy flourishes unless you have his expertise. "I try to do something different," admitted Bergeron, who topped off his plates with tiny, partly poached quail eggs.

Keep a grip on the number of parts of any dish. "I limit myself to four parts on a plate," he said in an interview, recalling how he recently broke his own rule at another fundraiser, serving an eight-part dish to a crowd of 300. "It was a bit too much," he said.

Chef Mario Navarette Jr. of the Outremont restaurant Raza, who won the silver medal in the contest, agreed. "Simplicity is what people are looking for. Four or five ingredients, and a very simple presentation," recommended the chef, who served a Latin American ceviche made with covia, a white Pacific salmon, topped with a peppery sauce and roasted corn kernels he called "popcorn of the Incas."

A battery of large, heavy plastic containers with tight-fitting lids is required for moving your cooking around, says Jean-François Vachon, chef at M Sur Masson. For cooking on location, "I have plastic boxes in all different sizes," said the Rosemont chef. He also travels with a box containing his cooking tools, and used them and a rented smoker to prepare his marinated, smoked black cod. He used the Marché Bonsecours oven to reheat his caramelized cauliflower.

Coolers made of insulated plastic or Styrofoam are basic equipment for Jérôme Ferrer, chef at Europea, who won the bronze medal in the contest. He tries to use the freshest available ingredients, to cook most foods at his restaurant, to chill everything that is to be served cold, and to keep it cold by packing coolers with ice.

"Make sure the chain of cold is not broken," said the Mountain St. chef, who served seared, chilled Asian-flavoured tuna.

Check in advance what equipment will be available on site, Ferrer recommended. He brought along a portable warming oven to heat up his cheese croquettes.

Marino Tavares of Café Ferreira went to see the cooking facilities at Marché Bonsecours before planning his dish for the event. Finding only two small ovens and two electrical outlets to service 10 chefs, he decided, as he put it, "to go for the practical and to go cold" instead of attempting any cooking. He prepared all parts of his Alaska king crab Caesar salad in his Peel St. restaurant, including a sauce of mayonnaise, anchovies and capers, and packed all ingredients in various sizes of plastic containers.

Keep the last-minute touches to a minimum, Ferrer advised. "You don't want to arrive and have too much to do."

Enlist others to help just before serving. Navarette recalled that gold-medal winner Roland Ménard of Hovey Manor had six people in his booth, and four out front directing traffic. "We were two, me and my sous-chef," said Navarette. Each chef had an Olympic athlete assigned as a helper, and he was lucky enough to draw hockey player Kim St. Pierre, a gold-medal-winning goalie.

"Kim helped put the baby herbs on the plates," he said. "That was the big key for me. She scored," he said, laughing.

If your party contribution is fragile, pack it carefully for the trip. Ménard, of Hovey Manor, and his staff made lollipops composed of hollow chocolate balls that were filled with apple juice and frozen. He served them with a foie gras and whipped milk mousse. "We had 150 kilometres to drive from North Hatley," said the chef. "We took it gently," he added with a grin.

jarmstrong@thegazette.canwest.com

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Do most of it at home, then pack it up

Your party host's kitchen is not the place for elaborate cooking or assembly of your creation. Here are a few tips on avoiding a last-minute frenzy.

Find out what facilities are available - stoves, table or counter space, refrigerator or freezer space.

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